The Dark Ocean
by Sora Takenouchi Ishida
Summary: My take on an AU of the episode where Hikari disappears and Takeru tries to find her. I thought it would be a great plot for a Sorato fic. Takari is also included on it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I'm here with another fic. I thought it would be cool to see a Sorato fic about the Dark Ocean. I came up with this idea because I was curious to know how would Yamato handle it. They aren't a couple on it, though. Neither is Takari, who's also included in the fic. I hope you all enjoy. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I think it got too big to be just one chapter. I'll post the 2nd chapter tomorrow. Please review!**

**The Dark Ocean**

Sora stood by my locker and looked at it for several minutes. She heard the school bell ringing, but she was so lost in my own thoughts that she didn't care. It was when Koushiro approached her that she came back to earth.  
"Sora, are you okay?" He asked as he waved his hand in front of her.  
She took a step back, scared to see my friend's hand. Then she looked at him.  
"Hi, Koushiro. I didn't see you there."  
"I can see that." He had an eyebrow raised. "Too much on your mind?"  
"Yeah, I guess you can say that." The red haired girl sighed and opened my locker. "I've been stressing out with tennis. There's a national competition coming up and I need to do great at it. Add that to the fact my mother is on my case because she wants me to learn how to do flower arranges and I don't want to do it. Plus, there's school, which is harder than ever. I can't keep up."  
"Wow, seems like you have a lot going on."  
"Tell me about it. Sometimes I wanna scream to ease everything." She shrugged. "But I guess we've all been busy lately. I haven't seen you for a while."  
The computer geek scratched his head. "Well, the computer club is pretty much taking all my time. But I'm kind of left behind in physical education and I was wondering if you could get me to the soccer team again."  
"Isn't Taichi in the team?"  
"He is, but I can't exactly talk to him because of Naru."  
"Who?"  
"His fling… didn't you know?"  
"I'm such a horrible friend. I didn't even know Taichi was having an affair."  
"So… she won't let him breathe. Everytime I try to talk to him about the team, she shows up out of nowhere and takes him away. You are my last chance."  
"Okay, I see what I can do." Sora noticed the book on his hands. "So I see you have math now. Looks like we have the same class now."  
"You are holding your chemistry book." Koushiro pointed to the book she was holding.  
"Great. I can't even get the right book." She said ironically. "You can go ahead; you'll be late for class. I'll be right there."  
"Alright."  
Sora went back to her locker and found herself staring at it while getting lost in her own thoughts once more. It was like all her energy was being drained from her. She started to wonder if joining the national tennis competition was a good idea, only the best players in Japan sign up for this tournament. She shook her head and grabbed her math book. After closing her locker, she leaned my back against it and sighed. It felt so good to just clear up her mind for some minutes. Instead of heading to math class, the girl walked outside the building and sat by a cherry tree. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful fruit trees are during spring. She smiled and turned her attention to her surroundings. Of course no one was around; they were all locked up in their classes. She felt somewhat uncomfortable because she was supposed to be there as well. Suddenly she heard someone call her, but couldn't find who it was. She turned her attention back to the book on her hands as the negative thoughts took over her mind. Tennis, flower school, classes… it was a lot to handle for her. She was exhausted. She wished she could go somewhere that'd allow her to relax and take some time out from everything. Sora was slowly fading away and didn't even notice it.

Hikari was making her way to school by herself. Since Taichi went to high school she has no one to go with her because they study in different buildings. That day, however, she got a surprise.  
"Hikari!"  
She turned around and saw Takeru coming to her direction. She gave him a sweet smile.  
"Good morning, Takeru."  
"I've been calling you a few times." He said when he caught up with her. "Is everything alright?"  
"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't hear you. I feel lonely coming to school now, since Taichi moved to another building. Besides, he usually goes with Koushiro and Yamato. So it's just me now."  
Something in her tone made Takeru worry. He raised an eyebrow at her but quickly shook it off.  
"Why didn't you tell me? I would love to keep you company."  
"I wouldn't give you such trouble. We live in different buildings; it would be too much to ask."  
"You know you can never ask for too much. I enjoy your company, Hikari. I'm on my own sometimes too."  
"I thought you came with Miyako and Iori."  
"I do, but sometimes they are too involved in a conversation and I don't want to bother them. So it's good to have someone else to talk."  
"I know what you mean." She sighed. "As much as I love my brother, all he does is talk about soccer. It gets boring after a while."  
"So are you saying we can come to school together?" Takeru asked a little excitedly.  
"Maybe." She smiled. "But don't get your hopes high."  
"You're mean." He playfully stuck his tongue at her.  
"Only when I want to." She returned his gesture.  
The two friends walked down the hall to their classroom. Hikari usually sat in a chair before Takeru. They were taking out their books and everything else when she noticed she missed something.  
"Oh no, I forgot my pencil case."  
"I can lend you a pencil and a pen."  
"No, it's okay. I will get some downstairs. But thank you."  
The blonde observed his friend leave the room and right after he heard a strange noise in the hall. He ran outside and found Hikari lying on the floor. He rushed to her and knelt down.  
"Hikari, are you okay? What happened?" Takeru asked as he lifted her a little.  
"I don't know. It all blacked out and then I lost my senses."  
"You fainted." He stood up and helped her. "I'm gonna take you to the nursing."  
"I'm fine, Takeru."  
"You passed out, Hikari. It's not normal and you need to know what happened." He had a worried look on his face. "Come on. You haven't felt it since the Numemon incident."  
"My blood pressure decreased, that's all." She smiled at him, trying to show everything was alright. "You don't need to worry, everything's under control." She let go of his arms. "I'm just gonna drink some water and I'll be right there. We have a test today, and I can't miss that."  
Takeru's eyes fall on Hikari's silhouette as she walked away. He didn't believe a word she said, despite her effort to do so. He would have to talk to Taichi about this.

Sora woke up from her sleep and looked around. She definitely wasn't at school. Everything was _dark_. It was like she was in another world, but certainly not the Digital World. Piyomon would tell her if evil forces appeared there again, wouldn't she? She stood up and decided to explore the place. As she was walking, she felt cold rushes all over her body. Something just wasn't right. It was when she heard a voice.  
"Finally you're here."  
"Who's there?" Sora looked all around her to find the source of the voice, but couldn't find anyone.  
"Your negativity brought you to this world."  
"Who are you? And where am I?"  
"You're asking too many questions." The voice said. "Follow the light and you shall find me."  
A bright white light appeared in few inches away from her. She swallowed hard and walked towards it, though she was scared to find out what would be at the end of it.

Hikari didn't come back after telling Takeru she would just drink some water and missed the test. Takeru left the classroom in a rush as soon as the test ended. He headed to the nursing, but she never went there. He then started looking for her all over school, with no success.  
Tailmon was waiting for her partner hidden on a tree. She had a feeling something was off with Hikari, so she followed her to make sure she would be okay. The Digimon decided to look the view for a while when she saw her friend crossing the street. She went down after the girl.  
"Hikari!"  
She moved forward to cross it too, but was stopped by a car. When she was able to do it, she saw her partner begin to fade away, like she was being taken to another world.  
"Hikari!" Tailmon called her again, but she didn't seem to be listening.  
Before she knew it, Hikari had disappeared. Her bag was the only thing left behind.  
"Oh no!"

Yamato and Takeru agreed to meet for lunch that day. They were in the line when Tailmon approached them.  
"Takeru!"  
"Tailmon, what happened? I thought you would be hidden until school is over."  
"Something is wrong with Hikari."  
"What? Did you see her?"  
"She vanished."  
"What are you saying?" Takeru said alarmed and then it hit him. "She missed a test today. She fainted in the hall and I tried to take her to the nursing, but she said she was fine. She never missed a test."  
"We need to find her."  
"Hey guys." Koushiro said, joining the brothers. "You need to find who?"  
"Hikari." Takeru said. "Tailmon saw her being transported to another world."  
"What? Like the Digital World?"  
"I don't think that was the Digital World, Koushiro."  
"Speaking of it, Sora disappeared too."  
"What?" Yamato asked.  
The computer geek nodded. "We had math class together, but she got her chemistry book instead. She went to change it and didn't show up afterwards. I noticed she was more distracted than usual."  
"Could they have gone to the same place?"  
"It's possible."  
"Come on." The rock star turned to Takeru. "We need to find them."  
"I know why you want to find Sora, brother." Takeru said with a mischievous smile.  
"Because she's our friend." Yamato said coolly, but gave his brother a death glare. "We can't let anything bad happen to her."  
"Right."  
"Hikari is missing as well. What do you have to say about that?"  
Takeru swallowed hard. "Okay, I got it."  
Yamato had a triumphant smile on his face. He knew his brother didn't have an argument for that.  
"Anyway, where do we start looking for them?"  
"The Digital World probably." Koushiro said. "It's the only place I can think of."  
"Takeru said he think they're not there, Koushiro." Yamato said. "And I agree with him. Sora doesn't have a digivice that would allow a portal to open, unlike Hikari."  
"You have a point there." The red haired boy lifted his chin with his hand, thinking of a solution. "I have no idea where they could be. I've never heard about this world before."  
"This we know." The blonde said rather annoyed.  
"Tailmon, you saw Hikari disappearing." Takeru turned to her friend's partner. "Can you take us there?"  
"Yes, it was right across the street actually. She left her bag behind. I took it and hid it."  
"Great, maybe the portal will open for us too."  
"Let's go."  
"You two go. I'll see what I can do from here."  
"Okay." Takeru said.  
"We'll bring them back."  
The two brothers rushed outside, following Tailmon to where Hikari had vanished.

**So what did you think of it? Feedback is appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I finally finished the 2nd chapter. I made a few changes so i'm gonna add what's on Chapter 2 into the first one and delete the old one. Thanks for all reviews, hope you enjoy it! The next chapter will be the last one. Please review.**

Sora kept following the light but it seemed she just couldn't reach it. The closer she got, the further it became. She was getting exhausted of walking, so she fell to my knees. Shortly after that, the voice spoke again.  
"Already tired?"  
The girl made an effort to stand up again. "Who's there?"  
"You won't be getting to the light if you keep this way."  
"I've been walking for hours and I can't reach it."  
"You aren't focusing enough."  
"What?"  
"Sora!"  
She turned around to see who called her. A large grin appeared on her face when she saw who it was.  
"Hikari! What are you going here?"  
"I was teleported to this world." She ran to her. "I thought I was the only one here."  
"I don't know where we are." Sora shrugged. "Have you heard the voice?"  
"The one talking to you? Yes, but I don't recognize it."  
"He told me to follow that light." She pointed towards it. "But I have been walking for hours and can't seem to get there."  
"Follow the light? What if it's dangerous?"  
"Where's Tailmon?" She looked down, searching for her partner.  
"She's in our world. I don't know if she saw me vanishing."  
"Let's hope so. Otherwise we'll be trapped here forever."  
"I don't want to." Hikari rubbed both of her arms. "This place is creepy."  
"I can't believe I failed."  
"What?"  
"I can't seem to reach where I have to go. This means I failed." Sora sat down and buried her head in her hands.  
"Oh my God! Sora, look!"  
She saw her with widened eyes for a brief moment. The next thing she knew she was standing alone in the middle of what seemed to be a dark ocean.

Takeru ran to grab Hikari's school bag when he arrived with Yamato and Tailmon at the point she disappeared.  
"Are you sure it's here, Tailmon?" He asked her. "Maybe someone moved her bag."  
"I'm sure, Takeru. I just don't know how to go to the world."  
"We'll have to figure out."  
"How, Takeru?" Yamato asked him. "There isn't a portal here and I don't have Gabumon with me."  
"There has to be a way, Yamato. Hikari didn't go with her digivice, she always keeps it inside her bag."  
"How do you know?"  
"I've seen her putting it there." Takeru opened Hikari's bag and grabbed her digivice. "See, I told you."  
"We're at loss here. Have you noticed something wrong with Hikari before today?"  
"Maybe, I don't know." He replied impatiently. "Can we focus here? You should be worried about Sora."  
"I am worried about her, you have no idea how much."  
"So don't be pessimist about it! She might need you."  
"I know that." Yamato said exasperated.  
"So do something!" His brother replied angrily. "Hikari!"  
"Yelling, seriously?"  
"Do you have a better idea?"  
"No, I don't." The leader of The Teenage Wolves went to a different direction and started calling Sora.

"Sora! Where are you? Sora!" Hikari called her friend, but she was nowhere to be found. "Thia can't be happening."  
"It is."  
"It's the same voice that was talking to Sora. Who are you? Where is she?"  
"Your friend failed to reach the light, but you can do it."  
"Why? What's in the end of it?"  
"You are making a lot of questions too. I will have to send you to a place similar where your friend is, if you keep doing it."  
Hikari swallowed hard, resigned. She didn't want to be wherever Sora was, even though she had to find her.  
"What do I have to do? Sora tried for hours and couldn't reach that light."  
"Let the darkness of your heart guide you."  
"Darkness of my heart? You must be kidding me, I don't have such thing."  
"Yes you do. You're always depending on your brother for everything."  
"Leave my brother out of this!"  
"What will happen if he doesn't come save you?"  
"What?" Her eyes widened. "That's not an option! He will come save me."  
"He doesn't know you're missing because he doesn't care about you!"  
"That's not true!" She fell to her knees. "Takeru, help me."  
"It's useless. No one is going to hear you."  
The voice started laughing maleficently and Hikari grew desperate.

A cold rush filled Takeru's body and his eyes widened. "Hikari!"  
"What?" Yamato and Tailmon ran to him. "Where?"  
"Over there." He pointed towards the sky.  
"You have got to be kidding, Takeru." Yamato said skeptically. "There's no way she can be there."  
"Fine!" He shouted. "Stay here and don't go after Sora. But I'm taking my chances and saving Hikari."  
"Huh?"  
"What's going on, Tailmon?" Yamato looked down at her. "Don't tell me you saw her too."  
"I did." The Digimon looked at him. "Takeru activated the gate."  
"How?"  
"With love. His love for Hikari made him open the portal."  
"What? Can we go where they are now?"  
"If you believe in the love inside you, yes. You need to accept how your heart truly feels about Sora and you should be able to find her."  
"What I truly feel about Sora." He closed his eyes and placed his hand over his heart.  
"Stop fighting your fate, Yamato." Takeru said firmly while looking at his brother. "You know you're crazy for her. You'll only be able to save her if you acknowledge that."  
"Takeru." Yamato opened his eyes and looked towards the place Takeru was pointing to minutes ago. "Sora, where are you? Sora!"  
"Yamato!" Sora's image began to appear slowly.  
"Sora!"  
"Please, save me. I don't know where I am."  
"I will find you and bring you back, trust me."  
Takeru watched his brother with a smile on his face. "See, I told you. Now let's go."  
The two brothers leaned forward towards the image of Hikari and Sora. Patamon and Tailmon followed them. Koushiro was running to them when he saw everything that happened.  
"Yamato! Takeru! What are you doing?"  
They turned their heads, but it was too late to back down.  
"We are going to save Sora and Hikari. We were able to locate them, we're gonna bring them back safely."  
The computer geek watched in horror as they disappeared in the sky.  
"What were they thinking? They couldn't have gone alone after the girls! I need to think of something now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Took me a while, but I finally finished the last part. It turned out to be longer than I expected, but I hope it's still good. Please review.**

Sora looked around and couldn't find out where she was. All she knew was that she was feeling cold and frightened. She started thinking if someone actually missed her and was trying to save her. She got desperate when she realized no one knew how to rescue her, since she wasn't in the Digital World.  
"I'm gonna be here forever." She whispered to herself. "I don't think they can find me."  
"That's right." The voice spoke again. "No one can find you because nobody loves you."  
"Nobody loves me?" She repeated. "That's not true. My family and my friends love me."  
"You are destined to stay in this place for the rest of your life."  
The red haired girl closed her eyes and felt the cold and fear grow inside her heart. When she opened them, the sparkle she had on them was gone. All she could feel was emptiness and sadness.  
"Yamato…" Sora was able to say eventually, in a low tone.

"Huh?" Yamato stopped walking suddenly.  
"What's wrong?" Takeru turned around and looked at him.  
"I think I heard Sora calling my name."  
"Really? Where?"  
"I don't know, Takeru. If I did, I would have run to her by now."  
"Are you sure it's her?"  
"I'm not sure, it was really low. Almost like she was losing her power."  
"That's not good." The younger blonde seemed to think for a moment. "I think we should split so we can find them faster. I don't believe they are in the same place."  
"We can't split. Patamon is with you. What happens if I come across a Digimon? I have no way to fight back."  
"You're right. But this is nothing like the Digital World. At least, not like the one we usually go. So you should be fine."  
"He's right, Takeru." Tailmon said. "You have Patamon to defend you. I don't mean just Digimon wise, but anything can appear in this world. I'd go with him, but I can't evolve without Hikari."  
"Tailmon."  
"I don't know what to do." Takeru said nervously. "I want to save Hikari, but I can't leave Sora. She's just as important."  
"We'll save them both." Yamato placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll do it, one way or another."  
"But how? You said yourself, Gabumon is not with you." He looked down. "We can't go different ways and that will take us more time to find the girls."  
"Well, you can't have everything. We should come up with a plan and decide which one we are going to rescue first."  
"Damn it." The basketball player fell to his knees.  
"Takeru."  
"Hey, don't give up now." The singer knelt down next to him and grabbed his shirt collar. "You were just telling me to keep positive. Where's your hope?"  
"My hope?" Takeru's eyes widened. "It's gone."  
"It's your Crest! Without your hope we won't get nowhere!"  
"You're right." He stood up. "I need my hope to help me achieve what I want."  
"That's my brother!" Yamato said proudly. "Now we need to hurry before it gets too late."  
"Alright!"

Hikari stopped screaming and removed her hands from her head. She stood up and looked around; a feeling of fear taking over her. She put on a brave face and started walking to her right. A large smile appeared on her lips when she saw her two friends and her partner.  
"Tailmon! Takeru!"  
"Hikari!" The Digimon ran to her and jumped on her arms.  
"I thought no one was going to save me."  
"Of course we would." Takeru walked to her side. "I couldn't leave you here."  
"How did you get here anyway?" The girl looked at him. "This isn't the Digital World, so it's not easy to come."  
"Love. Love activated the gate."  
"What?"  
"Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine, just a little scared. This place is creepy, I want to get out of here."  
"We will." The blonde placed a hand on her shoulder.  
"Where's Sora?" Yamato asked. "Was she with you?"  
"Yes." Hikari looked down. "Someone took her away."  
"Who?"  
"I don't know, all we heard was a voice. Sora kept saying she failed and they took her away. I couldn't do anything."  
"So there are more dimensions in this world." The rock star looked away. "Great."  
"What do we do now, brother?"  
"I don't know. If Koushiro was here he would know what to do or where to go."  
"Hikari, what happened?"  
The brothers turned around and saw Hikari on the ground, covering her head with her hands and screaming.  
"No, not again!"  
"Hikari!" Takeru knelt beside her. "What's going on?"  
"An ocean. A dark ocean. Oh my God!"  
"What?" The blonde was now grabbing her shoulder firmly. "Did you see something?"  
"I just saw where Sora is." Hikari took her hands away from her head and faced him. "She was in the middle of a dark ocean."  
"What are you saying?" Yamato asked nervously.  
"Calm down, Yamato." Takeru turned his attention back to his friend. "Do you know where it is or how we can get there?"  
"It's right over there." She pointed north and they followed her finger.  
"Are you sure? There isn't anything that looks like an ocean in that direction. Just an open area."  
"Of course there is. You just can't see it like she does."  
"Who's there?" The basketball player asked, looking for the source of the voice.  
"Where's Sora?"  
"Kids nowadays ask too many questions." The voice said rather annoyed. "Your friend is in a safe place, under my supervision."  
"Sora didn't do anything to be where she is now. Bring her back!"  
"Try me."  
"Hikari, you think you can find this ocean if we follow your directions?" Yamato asked her.  
"I think so." She nodded.  
The blonde and his brother started following her as she made her way towards the open area.

Sora was sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs and stared at nowhere. Her clothes were almost losing its colors, so did her skin and hair. The cold sensation was still all over her body and she didn't seem to realize the three people coming to her direction.  
"Sora!" Yamato ran to her as soon as he noticed her.  
He knelt down in front of her while Takeru and Hikari stood up behind him.  
"Who are you?"  
"It's me, Yamato. Takeru and Hikari are here too." He looked over to them.  
"I don't remember any of you."  
"This is not good." Takeru said.  
"How can you not remember us?" The rock star turned his attention back to Sora. "We are your friends. We've been through so much together."  
"I don't recognize you."  
"Try a little harder, Sora. I know there's a memory somewhere in your mind. You probably remember Piyomon, right?"  
"Piyomon?" She reacted, to the other's happiness. "That name sounds familiar."  
"She's your partner." Yamato said with a smile. "She was with you all the time, when we had to defeat our enemies in the Digital World."  
"Sora." Takeru knelt down beside his brother. "It's me, Takeru. Please try to remember us."  
"Takeru." She looked at him with empty eyes.  
"It's me." He smiled. "We came to save you."  
"Save… me?" She said weakly. "But he told me no one else would come."  
"Who did that?"  
"The voice." Hikari replied, causing the boys to look at her. "He said the same thing to me."  
"Idiot!" Yamato punched the ground with his fist.  
"Of course we would come to save you, Sora. We would never leave you in this place alone."  
"Why?"  
"Because we love you, Sora." Yamato grabbed her hand and looked at her. "You mean a lot _to me_. To all of us."  
"What? No one loves me."  
"You can't listen to that voice! There are lots of people who love you! Your family, your friends. We wouldn't be here if you meant nothing to us."  
"Is that so?"  
"Absolutely!"  
"I don't belong there."  
"Don't say that! You do belong there, you always have." The blonde said firmly. "Open your eyes, Sora! You can't let that voice get into your head and take you away from us. I refuse to let you go without fighting."  
"Why are you doing this?"  
"_Because I need you_. Because you've became an important part of my life and I won't let someone I can't even see have you. What am I gonna tell your parents and friends that I failed in rescuing you?"  
"Yamato."  
"What?" He was surprised to hear her calling his name.  
"Keep doing it, brother." Takeru encouraged him. "It's working."  
"Don't leave me here." She said weakly.  
"I won't do that… ever. All you have to do is hold my hand tighter and trust me."  
"I want to go home."  
"Squeeze my hand, Sora, and I'll take you home."  
Sora closed her eyes and slowly tightened her grip around Yamato's hand. She stayed that way for a while and he apprehensively waited for what would happen afterwards.

The colors on her clothes returned at the same time she finally opened her eyes. Yamato, Takeru and Hikari could barely hide their happiness when they noticed the spark on them had returned. She blinked hard, as if she was trying to understand what was happening.  
"Where am I?" She let loose of the blonde's hand and sat up straight.  
"This is dark side of the Digital World." Hikari replied, looking around. "It's creepy, isn't it?"  
"It really is." Sora rubbed her arms to warm them up. "I want to go back."  
Yamato bent down in front of her and grabbed her shoulders firmly. There was a serious expression on his face that startled her, but something about his eyes couldn't let her look away.  
"Are you okay?"  
"I think I am. I'm just tired."  
"Let's get you home." He got up and helped her stand on her feet, keeping her close to his body. He then looked up and frowned. "But how are we gonna do that?"  
"Hikari and I can handle that." Takeru looked at Taichi's sister and she nodded. "Patamon and Tailmon will armor-evolve to Pegasmon and Nefertimon. That should be enough to take us back to Earth."  
"It's a good thing you two have your partners around. We never know when we might need them."  
"I let the darkness of my mind get the best of me… and you were there to save me _again_."  
"I couldn't let any of my friends go without fighting. Especially a close one like you."  
"I will never be able to thank you enough, Yamato."  
"You don't have to thank me." He said with a smile. "Just as long as you stay safe, that's enough for me."  
"You too, Hikari and Takeru. Thank you so much for rescuing me. You are truly amazing."  
"Not problem at all, Sora." Takeru replied rather embarrassed. "You know how much we love you, right?"  
"Now I do." She smiled warmly, causing the other three to tag along.  
"Shall we go back now?" Hikari asked, climbing on Nefertimon.  
"Definitely. We spent far too much time on this world."  
"Koushiro is probably worried about us now."  
Sora joined Hikari while the brothers climbed on Pegasmon and the two Digimon made their way outside that negative world, hoping to never come back again.


End file.
